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We are Dr Damian Millar & Dr Natasha Down (musculoskeletal chiropractors). We are conveniently based in South Launceston on Talbot Road, yes we trained as Chiropractors, but don’t judge us by our title. We don’t work as most chiropractors do. We like to treat a bit differently. To us muscles are just as important as joints, discogenic & minor disc bulges are complex but manageable, pain is not normal, it is always a symptom of something else & above all you should not be reliant on us for relief alone; you must take control of your pain through education & self management strategies.

Lying on a table is passive therapy. Such therapy is akin to panel beating, it serves a purpose but we would rather teach you how to ‘drive’ your body rather than keep repairing you after you crash.

To us that is what chiropractors (& all manual therapists) should aspire to do.

We don’t think there is one ‘right’ approach to pain. Everyone is unique, so is your pain. You need a unique approach to relieve & manage that pain. Hopefully even a way to prevent it completely.

That’s what we aim to do.

We don’t just ‘crack’ joints.

We don’t treat everyone the same way.

We don’t run a chiro-factory with 5 minutes of therapy & yet another appointment in four weeks time.

Not really; we just combine methods used by chiropractors, physiotherapists, osteopaths, massage therapists & exercise physiologists into one unique ‘technique’.

This combination we have found has a much greater efficiency than just using one alone. We know since we were trained as chiros & have previously worked using just chiropractic. The limitations of single technique therapy results motivated us to explore the other professions approaches. Thus we have seen first hand the difference between just using one modality as opposed to combining them together.

So if you need massage for tight muscles; we can do that. If you have chronic core weakness which constantly causes back pain & need core stabilisation exercises; we can do that. If you have ‘put your back out’ and need it ‘put back in’; we can do that too. Have a disc bulge that keeps playing up? There’s a good reason; we can usually tell you why & how to prevent it.

We believe muscles are just as important as joints. Discs must be treated uniquely when involved to prevent relapses. Weak or non-recruitment of muscles is just as important as functional distortions. Sometimes muscles are tight; always for a reason. There is no point massaging without the awareness of why it has tightened. You cannot treat something as complex as the human body with only one technique. You cannot accurately diagnose the myriad of conditions we see in practice when you limit yourself to one approach.

In short whatever the problem we can in all likelihood help relieve it, manage it &/or prevent it. If we can’t help we don’t treat, we refer to someone else.

We believe every manual therapy profession has great techniques but they have to be used at the right time. Use the wrong technique for the wrong problem & the best you can hope for is that you are unaffected by the therapy. Sometimes the most important thing is what not to do rather than what to do. Someone who has training in multiple diagnostic & therapeutic methods is better capable of detecting such a circumstance.

We do not believe there is any benefit to ongoing care except in rare complex circumstances.

We do not believe there is a disease prevention effect in what we do so we don’t want to see you when you feel ‘good’.

We try to ‘fix’ you by actually finding the cause of your pain. While many professionals claim to do this they merely find a way of relieving your pain, which returns & you have to go back for more treatment. This is not treating the cause of the pain. This is treating the source of the pain; not the source of the problem.

Pain is a symptom, it is not the core problem. There is always something causing it. We find the core problem by a thorough history & examination. By affecting it & by reducing the pain causing mechanisms it has caused you gain lasting relief, independent of ongoing therapy.